Pts off Turnovers

2nd Chance Pts

Pts in the Paint

Fastbreak Pts

Bench Pts

OTTAWA (CIS) – The third-seeded University of British
Columbia Thunderbirds opened the second half with a 21-0 run and
cruised to a 79-58 win over the No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves in the
first quarter-final of the CIS men’s basketball championship,
Friday afternoon, at Scotiabank Place.

The Canada West bronze medallist T-Birds advance to
Saturday’s early national semifinal at 5 p.m. (TSN2) against
conference foe Calgary, in a rematch of last year’s semifinal
duel that saw UBC prevail 79-74. The Birds went on to lose 87-77 to
Carleton in the title match.

In its first CIS championship appearance since 1977, Lakehead will
face Cape Breton Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on the consolation side of
the draw.

Trailing 32-26 at halftime, UBC scored the first 21 points of the
third quarter, including a thunderous dunk by fifth-year guard Kyle
Watson of Richmond, B.C., to build a commanding 15-point lead.

Blain LaBranche of Edmonton, also a fifth-year guard, put an
exclamation point on the Birds’ dominating third-frame
performance hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer that made it
57-43 UBC after 30 minutes of play.

UBC outscored its OUA rivals 31-11 in the period shooting 66.6%
from the field (12-18) compared to 26.7% for Lakehead.

Junior guard Kamar Burke of Mississauga, Ont., kicked off the final
stanza with a highlight reel dunk, and the Thunderbirds never
looked back.

“We weren’t really pleased with our play in the first
half but, obviously, we’re really pleased with the way the
guys responded after the break,” said 10-year UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson, named CIS coach of the year on Thursday.

“It should be a great game against Calgary. We know what they
do, they know what we do. We know each other very well,”
added Hanson, whose troops beat Calgary 79-71 on January 23 in the
only head-to-head duel of the season.

LaBranche finished with a team-high 14 points in the victory, while
CIS player of the year Josh Whyte, a fourth-year guard from
Calgary, earned UBC player-of-the-game honours following a
13-point, five-rebound effort.

Fourth-year forward Brent Malich of Langley, B.C., also scored in
doubles figures for the T-Birds, finishing with 10 points,
including seven in the opening quarter.

Sophomore guard Joseph Jones of Washington paced Lakehead with 14
points and seven boards, including back-to-back three-pointers late
in the second quarter that sent the T-Wolves to the locker room
with a six-point advantage.

Fellow sophomore Yoosrie Salhia, a 6-foot-5 post from Toronto, was
named Lakehead game MVP after he scored 12 points on 5-for-7
shooting from the floor.

“We dropped our intensity on (defence) in the second
half,” said Lakehead head coach Scott Morrison. “They
beat us on the hedge and created shots for themselves.” He
went on to add, “Once they got rolling, we got
panicky.”

The first quarter started off slow, as both teams struggled trying
to find their offence. After some turnovers from both sides, UBC
finally found their rhythm as they took a 10-4 lead. But Lakehead
battled back, led by Salhia, who had five points.

UBC led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, as both teams
struggled with nine turnovers combined.

After a slow start, Lakehead caught fire in the second quarter.
Jones hit three-pointers from the corner on consecutive possessions
to give the Thunderwolves a 24-19 lead. Following this, UBC’s
LaBranche and Lakehead’s Ryan Thomson of Oakville, Ont.,
continued the hot shooting from beyond the three point line.

With five minutes left before the break, the game slowed down as a
number of fouls were called and players from both teams headed to
the foul lines. UBC’s Denny Dumas of Surrey, B.C., drove the
lane and scored with under a minute left, pulling the Thunderbirds
within six points. As the teams ended the first half, the
Thunderwolves remained in front 32-26.

Both teams shot well under 50 per cent in the first half, making it
a defensive battle. The Thunderwolves also kept Whyte in check,
keeping him to only four shots in 13 minutes of playing time.

The third quarter started much differently than the first two as
UBC scored five points in the first 40 seconds. They continued to
dominate on offence as they scored in five of their first six
possessions. As UBC gained momentum, Lakehead’s shooting woes
continued. They went over seven minutes with scoring a basket.
UBC’s defence was mainly to blame for this. At one point, the
Thunderbirds stole the ball and scored off the transition on three
straight plays.

Lakehead finally found some offence as they scored nine points in
the next few minutes, but could not stop the Thunderbirds, who
scored 30 points in the quarter and had six steals on the defensive
end.

Early in the fourth, Burke had the play of the game, with a
towering two-handed jam that brought much of the crowd to their
feet in the opening minute. The Thunderbirds put the game away
early in the fourth, leading by as many as 19 points. Lakehead
didn’t have an answer defensively for UBC. The Thunderbirds
outscored Lakehead 53-26 in the final two quarters.